France's national blood service has confirmed that a cyberattack targeting a refrigeration equipment provider raised temperature and defrost settings at three of its facilities, threatening stored blood products.
DreamHost is warning of a data breach after attackers gained access to its File Manager platform for two months and stole customers' FTP/SFTP usernames and passwords.
A Thought About Courtesy and Civility:
We don't have to like everyone. We don't have to agree with everyone. We can disagree passionately, even profoundly. But wishing ill upon another human
being should never be acceptable, regardless of how we feel about that person or their beliefs.
When we take pleasure in another person's misfortune, or abandon simple courtesy and civility because we dislike someone, we diminish not only ourselves
but society as a whole.
Kindness, decency, and respect should never depend upon whether someone shares our opinions.
Does HomePod Mini 2 Have Improved Sound? Here's What Reviews Say https://www.macrumors.com/2026/11/04/homepod-mini-2-sound-quality/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon
One for the #MusicLovers Maestro Memories: European Labels Offer Collections of Early John Williams - The Second Disc
https://theseconddisc.com/2026/11/04/john-williams-jasmine-records-in-session-checkmate-diamond-head-more/
Making someone's day brighter is what I am all about. I can't change the people who are mean and sarcastic, but I can make the lives brighter for people who are willing to accept insight, and the gift of perspective, hope, and whatever I can help with for the day.,
I'd say I'm sorry I even opened this app this morning. Truly I am. The only redeeming thing is I hopefully helped someone and made their day brighter.
Umm, alrighty then. Yup that's it, that's the post. I got nothin' else. I'll just continue to do my laundry and mind my business.
We've had a few people recently who have come across to the leaseysocial.com Mastodon instance.
Welcome along, and hopefully everything has worked out smoothly for you.
We have a new Leasey user who would like to join Mastodon who has not used it before. We're just getting her set up now. For any Leasey user who would like to join, we're not a huge instance, but most people seem to like what we've got here.
We now have instructions for migrating to the instance from elsewhere, and also a set for creating a new account. They detail the rules, migration instructions if appropriate, creating a new account and linking that account to the Leasey Social Mastodon client of course.
Again, welcome to new users.
As you would expect, lots of questions are coming in since this afternoon about JAWS 2027.
Here's one of them. Can I use my Zoom scripts with JAWS 2027? There's a simple answer. Yes.
@AiraVI A little shout-out to Nicole, one of Aira's wonderful visual interpreters, who helped make my day a little easier and a lot more cheerful! ❤️
First, she helped me sort out the information needed for a Kohl's return. Then came the real adventure: resetting my birdcall wall clock!
This lovely clock has birds instead of numbers and plays a different birdcall every hour, bringing a little birdsong indoors during the quieter winter months.
There I was, holding my iPhone in one hand so Nicole could see the clock, while balancing the clock on its edge AND turning its tiny adjustment wheel with the other. Who needs a third hand anyway? 🤣
Nicole was patient, cheerful, and an absolute delight throughout, a true asset to the Aira team and to all of us Aira explorers.
Sometimes #Accessibility is about accomplishing necessary tasks. Other times, it's about the little joys that make everyday life better.
Today, thanks to Nicole and #Aira, I got to enjoy both! ❤️
JAWS 2027 released! https://support.freedomscientific.com/Downloads/JAWS/JAWSWhatsNew#Enhancements
A busy work day but everything went well.
I finished producing and distributing Lesson 3 of the Leasey training course. A little vain I know, but I just love the way #MediAccess works with audio. I've been editing audio on the computer now for about 26 years, something like that. I've used Reaper, Sound Forge, GoldWave and Studio Recorder. I still have all of those, and this is just better.
Putting multi-track work aside for a moment, it's not only the editing flexibility you have, but it's the speech and Braille-based feedback you receive or not as you choose, even in the single track editor.
The audio ducking as well is like Sound Forge 8, before they decided to break it.
I'm so looking forward to people getting to use it and it will improve further into next year.
Now, apart from that, I distributed a blog post about another aspect of Leasey I am using often. So it really is all go at the moment.
Plenty more work planned for tomorrow but it should be a little less phronetic.
Oh, I am wanting to see the John Lewis Christmas advert. It was released today and audio description is promised soon. Looking on X, so many people hate it, I mean, really hate it, so much so they've had to disable the comments on the YouTube vid.
watchOS 27.3, iPadOS 27.3, and more now available in beta https://9to5mac.com/2026/11/03/watchos-27-3-ipados-27-3-and-more-now-available-in-beta/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon
I'm back. I've gone and done my civic duty. When I got there there was a small line. By the time I left there was a line out, the, door! I had no issues with the #Accessible voting machine and I got to share a hug with Bill my poll worker who i swear is the only one there who knows how to set the machine up.
Have you registered for our webinar this Thursday? "Create Repeatable AI Workflows" with Elizabeth Whitaker and Rachel Buchanan is designed for JAWS screen reader users looking to turn recurring tasks into organized, reusable processes that save time and produce more consistent results. ACVREP credits are available for those who attend the live webinar.
Register now: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_OiG4bJZxSViTZvfE3HDk1w#/registration
Funny how two completely unrelated experiences can illustrate the same point.
Earlier today, I was discussing how the value of an email service isn't determined solely by price or technical specifications. Convenience, accessibility, support, and individual needs matter, too.
Then came my latest adventure with a department store. After struggling with an inaccessible checkout process, I contacted customer service for information about some jackets I was considering. Days later, I was informed that much of the information I'd requested was proprietary. They did, however, assure me that the cuffs were "normal." Whatever that means! 🤣
I genuinely wanted to shop there, but between the accessibility barriers and unhelpful information, even an attractive price couldn't make the experience worthwhile.
And therein lies the lesson: Price tells us what something costs. Value encompasses what we actually receive, including the experience of obtaining and using it.
My bookkeeper mommy always said a bargain isn't always a bargain, and what's right for one person isn't necessarily right for another.
One thing worth remembering when comparing email services, or any service for that matter, is that not every service is designed for the same audience.
For example, NameCrane's email hosting is geared toward people who have their own domains, whereas Fastmail doesn't require one. For those who don't own a domain and have no interest in maintaining one, that's an important distinction.
Price and technical specifications certainly matter, but so do convenience, usability, accessibility, customer support, and individual preferences. Getting the most features for your money isn't necessarily the same as getting the service that best meets your needs.
Understanding the intended audience for a service is just as important as evaluating what it does or doesn't offer. Ultimately, the right choice is the one that works for you.
I've been using Fastmail since 2021 and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a privacy-focused email service.
For those who are blind or low vision, Fastmail's web interface works quite well with screen readers, and the service is also compatible with Outlook Classic, Thunderbird, and the native Mail app on iOS.
Interested in giving it a try? Here's my referral link:
https://join.fastmail.com/998bc1c3
Full disclosure: I may earn a commission if you sign up for a paid account using my link. 😊